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Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: on August 25, 2016, 03:53:00 PM
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I have some friends that want me to take them bowfishing. I donated a bowfishing trip at the annual Lone Star Bowhunters Assn banquet, and a good friend won. Anyway, they want to go to a nearby Lake that has plecostomus (plecos, for short). Yes, these are the same little sucker fish that you see in aquariums. Someone let some go in a local river/lake, and they have gone crazy. They are very bad for the river ecosystem, and really mess things up for the native fish. Anyway, I went there last night to see how the conditions were, and to see if I could find the fish. The water was horrible. Dirty as heck. I only shot 4 plecos and one tilapia in several hours. We decided to postpone our trip till the water clears up.
But man, these are some strange, prehistoric looking fish!!!!
(http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss239/archeryrules/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-08/2053831A-D73E-4B1E-96B9-0695F7823A7D_zpszsiefheg.jpg) (http://s579.photobucket.com/user/archeryrules/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-08/2053831A-D73E-4B1E-96B9-0695F7823A7D_zpszsiefheg.jpg.html)
(http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss239/archeryrules/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-08/33D8FD2D-D494-4288-A07D-234FBAE4B59C_zps4cexny6n.jpg) (http://s579.photobucket.com/user/archeryrules/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-08/33D8FD2D-D494-4288-A07D-234FBAE4B59C_zps4cexny6n.jpg.html)
They all seem to have different patterns, kinda like fingerprints, and their skin is as rough as 80 grit sandpaper!!
(http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss239/archeryrules/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-08/6440F0FD-215D-461A-ABC6-DAA3E39967F9_zpsds4a7tpc.jpg) (http://s579.photobucket.com/user/archeryrules/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-08/6440F0FD-215D-461A-ABC6-DAA3E39967F9_zpsds4a7tpc.jpg.html)
(http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss239/archeryrules/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-08/6612E5BF-A6DC-42C6-99CE-D0F0BA0FC62D_zps9jmmoiv9.jpg) (http://s579.photobucket.com/user/archeryrules/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-08/6612E5BF-A6DC-42C6-99CE-D0F0BA0FC62D_zps9jmmoiv9.jpg.html)
(http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss239/archeryrules/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-08/58144D85-2CC0-4060-AB5F-8B2B73599C7C_zps08ydjbnc.jpg) (http://s579.photobucket.com/user/archeryrules/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-08/58144D85-2CC0-4060-AB5F-8B2B73599C7C_zps08ydjbnc.jpg.html)
(http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss239/archeryrules/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-08/36E1D863-90EA-4FBF-A4DC-249A5D6E0923_zpscivowjmr.jpg) (http://s579.photobucket.com/user/archeryrules/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-08/36E1D863-90EA-4FBF-A4DC-249A5D6E0923_zpscivowjmr.jpg.html)
And here is the one good eating fish I got, a nice sized tilapia.
(http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss239/archeryrules/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-08/3FCB19BA-70BE-42CE-B9F3-CBC3D5A52DE3_zps4utwmlza.jpg) (http://s579.photobucket.com/user/archeryrules/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-08/3FCB19BA-70BE-42CE-B9F3-CBC3D5A52DE3_zps4utwmlza.jpg.html)
Bisch
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Good shooting man. Always wanted to go bow fishing.
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Those would make some great inlays in a leather sheath!
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If they get big enough or you get enough small ones they'd make great skins for a bow too
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Nasty looking little buggers
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Looks like a plecostomus like people put in their fish tanks to clean them.
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Crazy looking little suckers.
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Yep Plecos, those are very nice ones. I have them in my aquaponics tanks to keep the algae down. If they have food, they grow very fast.
Mike
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Huh. Interesting. Their skin is kinda cool and like you said...all different. I am trying to think of another animal that has this wide of variation in skin patterns and cannot.
Anybody?
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Congrats Bisch.
There are hundreds of Varieties usually assigned with an L#. L24, L047, L085, L033 and L333 are some of of my favorites. I have sold hundreds of these back when I worked in the aquaculture field. L190 was a big seller. The ancistrus/hypancistrus species are pretty cool. Most dont get that large but in the wrong eco system I can see how they would be invasive.
I used to breed/import them for a hatchery operation.
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That's not skin on them that's armor plating.
Big scales. Had a ton of the smaller types when I was into cichlids. Good shooting. Ever try eating one ?
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I'm curious if they are good eating too .
Some ugly fish are very good eating .
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It woyuld appear they have no natrual predators, so over population could occur quickly.
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I have not ate one. A buddy tried to get into one to eat it, and their skin is tough as boot leather. They don't have a lot of meat. The only info I could find on the net about eating them was sketchy. I think I will stick with eating the tilapia and the bigger gar.
Bisch
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They look like a fun target. Congarts
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Snakehead?
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Originally posted by starshooter:
Snakehead?
No! As stated in the original post, plecostomus!
Bisch
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Armored Catfish, South and Central American. Some in Louisiana and Fla.
God bless, Steve
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Bisch, would a large on be 1 lb?
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I was told the other day that the TBBR record is right at 6#. I have seen several that would go 2-2.5#. So, no, I think a large one would go considerably more than 1#.
Bisch
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Wow, had no idea they got that big. When the water is it's clearest do ya'll work them over pretty good?
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crazy looking
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The canal around Lake Okeechobee is loaded with them, or at least was. I haven't been there in a few years. I could have filled a truck bed with them. Saw some that would go well over 1#, but never saw one close to 6#. Can't imagine grabbing one that big...they are incredibly strong, and those scales will cut you. I snagged a few, had to have a glove to handle them.
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Originally posted by Possum Head:
Wow, had no idea they got that big. When the water is it's clearest do ya'll work them over pretty good?
The biggest one I shot the other night was probably about 2#, or so.
I've only been there twice. The first time was a couple years ago. The water was crystal clear and there was 2 of us shooting, and we shot about 100 of them in about 4-5hrs.
The other night, the water was horribly dirty, and I only shot 4 in about 2.5hrs. I saw a lot, but the water was so dirty that I could not tell if they were plecos or catfish, so I could not shoot.
Bisch
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Sorry I meant to say they looked like a snakehead which is another invasive species. But yeah I saw that you said plescos. My bad . Man they are are a strange looking fish.